I don't know whose idea it was, but we decided to kill ourselves, because it was so horrendous what was happening. We had terrible phone calls, hate mail, just beyond anything. And I said "I just can't go on anymore." … We took pills and woke up the next day. It was very impulsive and I am glad we woke up.

I’ve moved back to the New York area for one reason: to spend time with my family, particularly Andy and my grandchildren, whom I love dearly. This has been a healing period for me ... I lost a son whom I loved dearly. I don’t talk to Bernie anymore, and I find it so hard to reconcile my feelings for the man I was married to for over 50 years. Despite this, I’ve chosen to move forward with my life and focus on my remaining family, particularly my grandchildren.

But Ruth's troubles haven't been limited to the financial; she has also been rocked by personal tragedy. In 2010, her elder son Mark committed suicide at the age of 46, on the two-year anniversary of his father's arrest. Four years later, her younger son, Andrew, died of lymphoma at the age of 48.

I am breaking my silence now because my reluctance to speak has been interpreted as indifference or lack of sympathy for the victims of my husband Bernie's crime, which is exactly the opposite of the truth. I am embarrassed and ashamed. Like everyone else, I feel betrayed and confused. The man who committed this horrible fraud is not the man whom I have known for all these years.

ABC News reported that "[Ruth] has repeatedly denied knowing [Bernie] was running a massive criminal operation for decades," and she and her lawyer declined to respond to these allegations when asked for comment.

For her part, Ruth's Madoff portrayer doesn't think she was in on it. "I don’t believe she was [an accomplice]," Danner told Good Morning America in an interview in January 2016. "This woman was duped by a sociopath, you know, that this man who she loved from the time that she met him when she was 16, [she] just completely allowed him to take over her life."

Today, Ruth Madoff is 74 years old, and even eight years later, she still can't escape the shadow of her husband's crimes. Just a few months ago, The New York Daily News reported that she had an encounter with a "Crime Watch Daily" reporter outside her old Greenwich apartment that ended with her saying to the man, "Get away from me!"

ABC's Madoff isn't the first time that Ruth (or a version of her) has been portrayed on the screen, and it won't be the last. Actress Cate Blanchett was open about the fact that she based her Oscar-winning role in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine on Ruth, and she'll next be played by Michelle Pfeiffer in the HBO movie The Wizard Of Lies, which began filming this past August, starring Robert De Niro as Bernie.

ABC's Madoff, based on the 2009 book The Madoff Chronicles: Inside The Secret World Of Bernie And Ruth by ABC News' Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross, stars Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss in the title role. It will air over two nights — premiering on Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 8 p.m. ET and wrapping up the following the night.